Big Brother 17: 6 Reasons why Vanessa will win the game

Cooper is one of the best-known female radio personalities in NY. A radio veteran, and Gracie Award winner, she currently hosts her own morning show for Cox Media Group, aptly named 'The Cooper Lawrence Show'. She can be heard mornings o...

Vanessa is the most dangerous player on Big Brother, ever — here's why

The Big Brother​ finale isn't until Sept. 23, but I feel confident in telling you that Vanessa wins. I don't have any insider information; I'm just a viewer like you. But from what I see, Vanessa has this game in the bag!

You probably disagree with me, so let me try to convince you as to why she is the most dangerous Big Brother player this season — and probably in the history of the game.

She was #GameOn day one

She knew immediately that if she revealed to the other houseguests that she was a professional poker player they would be gunning for her. So she said she was "a DJ" to throw them off her scent, and then she never mentioned it again. She understands that first impressions are important, so she made sure hers was one of someone who was not a threat.

She won before she ever auditioned

The houseguests have no idea who they're up against with Vanessa Rousso. A quick read of her Wikipedia page reveals a litany of reasons why, coming into this game, she already had the deck stacked. And I do mean "deck" since Rousso is a multimillion-dollar-winning professional poker player. Also, she literally studied game theory at Duke University, where she maintained a 4.0 grade-point average. She does, at one point, say to Austin, "I have a high IQ," but she really undersells it. The truth is that she's a genius who graduated from Duke in two and half years, the shortest time in the school's history.

The way she went after Jeff told me everything

Image: CBS

Audrey made herself a target by openly lying to everyone and then getting caught in those lies. This made her universally hated. Vanessa was the only one to recognize that being universally hated is a situation that will eventually work itself out. If everyone hates you, someone will eventually put you up for eviction. The real risk, according to Vanessa, was Jeff because, as she says, he was universally loved, which was far more dangerous.

She used what she knew

Image: CBS

Vanessa wanted Jeff gone, but how to do it? Well, she knew that Austin had it out for Jeff because they were both crushing on Liz (or who they thought was Liz), so she used that to begin to build a bond with Austin against Jeff. When she caught Jeff in a lie, she brought everyone (who was still on Jeff's side) into one room to reveal that lie, publicly turning them all against him, thus sealing his fate, while making that fate seem like it was his fault.

She understands Queen Bee Syndrome

Image: CBS

As a Duke University graduate with an economics degree, and as a person who also studied psychology and political science, surely she understands the so-called, "Queen Bee Phenomenon." That theory says that when women are in power they treat other women worse than they treat men. Which is why women in workplace environments tend to hate each other. Vanessa does the opposite of that theory, on purpose. As HOH (head of household), she was extra nice to the other women in her alliance while being purposefully harder on Austin and Clay. That sends the message to the girls that she's ultimately on their side, subtly forming loyalty and trust with them. This will keep her safe when the other women are HOH.

She controlled the "Twin Twist"

Image: CBS

They say that knowledge is power. When Mama Day thought that Liz might have been a twin, she squandered that information. Not Vanessa, she confronted Liz/Julia and got the twins to reveal to her —exclusively — that they were, in fact, twins. Even though this was their information to use, and it was their secret. They allowed Vanessa to be the one to decide who gets to know this secret, thus controlling the narrative, and ultimately Liz and Julia.

If none of this has convinced you, then let me allow James, the internet's favorite to win, to put it bluntly, "It's Vanessa that I'm most scared of." And he should be.

What do you think: Will Vanessa win the game? Who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below.